


The Signless And The Apostate

by loverjoy



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Dave is a seadweller named Dayhve, F for me, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Karkat is The Signless, M/M, au's like this are new to me so i'm excited, can't tag, it's cool, there's a rebellion, this is a commission, this was fun to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24093682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loverjoy/pseuds/loverjoy
Summary: Karkat Vantas, better known as "The Signless" to his followers, is a rebel leader looking to make things better, but he gets himself into more trouble than he bargained for. He's forced to hire a bodyguard, and after going through many he finds a good one in the form of a seadweller named Dayhve who later becomes known as "The Apostate." A former assassin for the opposition, Dayhve's new job is to protect the rebel leader and keep him safe, hopefully it all works out in the end.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	The Signless And The Apostate

**Author's Note:**

> This is a commision piece for Trent aka @nutrimercenary on Twitter. Give him a follow, he tweets some cool ass Homestuck stuff and even writes his own excellant commissions!! Hope you like this, I had fun with it!!

Being a rebel leader was not at all easy. It was a lot of work and could be dangerous. Being reveled as an almost God amongst his followers who called him “The Signless” was also dangerous. But none of that mattered. He was doing the right thing, and if danger came with it so be it. Besides, it wasn’t all bad. He could help people this way, and he’d met a lot of good people, and people who were on his side and wanted to help no less! What started as just one man taking on the universe became a whole army, and he was glad to call them his sort of pseudo-family. 

He’d been hurt a few times, but nothing too serious. He always had someone to have his back though, but for a while it was no particular person. It flip flopped between people, and eventually he started getting bodyguards. He’d had a few, but none of their stories ended well. Slain in battle, killed in an attempt on The Signless’ life. It was hard to deal with, and eventually he just had to stop trying to get to know them on a personal level. It wasn’t his job to get to know everyone anyway, and maybe in a war such as this one it was best to keep his distance.

Or, at least he tried to. Until that insufferable prick showed up and wormed his way into his life.

It wasn’t the best of meetings. No one trusted a seadweller around here, at least, not most of them. Seadwellers were known for being all high and mighty and thinking they were superior to everyone around them. No one around here really liked them, and most didn’t like him when he showed up. He had been nice enough, but something was always off about him, but no one could figure out what. So, there was always an eye on him, watching him and making sure he kept his filthy hands to himself.

He was charming in a way, but to the rebel leader he was just a slimy douchebag. His name was even douchey, he hated it the moment he met him.

“I’m Dayhve,” He had smiled, and it made the rebel’s skin crawl.

“That’s a horrible name, pick it out yourself?” He snapped, but introduced himself anyway, “Karkat. Now leave me alone, you ignoramus.”

He had walked away after that, not even taking up the seadweller’s offer for a handshake. Even if he had seen the man’s hand offered to him, he wouldn’t have taken it. In over a million years would he ever think of touching that idiot. Disgusting.  
The days went on, and Dayhve’s presence grew more and more intolerable. Something was off about him, that was obvious from the start, but as the days passed it became more apparent, he was up to something. The close watch on him became more intense, and Karkat at a certain point had several guards on him at once as Dayhve started hanging around him more and more often.

It wasn’t until one day when Karkat let his guard down, telling his guards that Dayhve hadn’t really been seen for a while. Maybe the guards scared him off? Fine by him, as long as the fucker was out of his sight, he didn’t care how he was scared away. He was just hoping he was gone for good. So, for once, Karkat felt safe enough to sleep without several guards standing outside his door; just one would do. So, Karkat went to sleep, finally not stressing out about the suspicious seadweller. Maybe he went back to his sea hut or wherever the fuck seadwellers live. Like he even cared. He didn’t.

Ugh, anyway.

He went to sleep, still and peaceful for several hours. He was a light sleeper, his hearing quite sensitive, but even he didn’t hear anything that happened outside or inside of his room that night. The man who broke in was sneaky and skilled, and when he stood over the sleeping rebel leader with a sword in his hand, he wondered how it had been so easy. He just pretended to be nice and charming and this was it? Easy as fucking pie. All he had to do now was cut this asshat’s head off and he could report back to his people, maybe even bring them the head as a treat. Yeah, that sounded nice. Maybe he’d get a hefty reward for doing that.

He had lifted the sword, aligning it so he could take off Karkat’s head in one fell swoop. It wouldn’t be that hard, it was simple. All he had to do was swing, take a clean cut, and it’d be done. He raised the sword, but he never swung it down. Karkat was sleeping on his back, one arm thrown over his middle, chest rising and falling evenly. He looked peaceful, for once he didn’t have a scowl on his face. Dayhve felt his confidence in this mission crumble away, shoulders slumping and grip on his sword loosening. Why couldn’t he do this all of the sudden? He’s been preparing for this for months; they were expecting him to do this.

He tightened his hold once again, gritting his teeth and trying to force himself to do it. Come on, Dayhve. It isn’t that hard. Just use your strength and do it. 

But… he couldn’t.

He released a sigh, disappointed in himself. He wasn’t so sure why he couldn’t go through with this, he just couldn’t. He sheathed his sword, instead looking… fondly down at Karkat’s sleeping face. Whatever this feeling he was feeling was, it was infuriating. He had to get out of here. So, he stood and walked toward the door he came in through, only stopping once to look over his shoulder at Karkat before he finally turned and left.

No one saw him after that, at least not for a month. It was a shock that the seadweller stopped pestering Karkat, but it was a nice surprise. At least, he felt like it for a while. Somehow though, Karkat sort of missed the jackass constantly being around. He was an annoying prick, but something about him lifted the spirits of everyone around. He was a rather cheerful man at least. Finding out Dayhve had gone… it made Karkat a little sad. But only a little! Finding out it kind of disappointed him that Dayhve was no longer around also annoyed him. But whatever. He’d get over it. He got over worse things.

An entire month passed and the feeling of Dayhve’s absence should’ve melted away by now, but without him everything just felt different. That jackass sure as hell wormed his way went into the normalcy of their lives. Or, at least Karkat’s. It was frustrating, but he could only accept it and move on.

He tried to move on, too. He really did. But when the infuriating seadweller came stumbling back and with one less eye, moving on was deemed impossible. He was treated with dismay at first, everyone wondering where the hell he’s been and what happened to his damn eye, but the eye looked like it had been gone for a while, there was no blood in sight. Just a scar. Besides having one less eye, he was pretty much the same. Rambling, charming, and annoying. 

Things fell back into place after a while, and Dayhve wasn’t as clingy as before. Eventually, he became more trustworthy and everyone backed off for the most part. It was a few months later that Karkat finally found out what Dayhve was up to before.

“I figured,” He wasn’t even surprised.

“Damn, I’m not a very good assassin, am I?” Dayhve said with a loose shrug.

“No, you’re pretty lousy at it,” Karkat said, crossing his arms, “Don’t get that look on your face. I know you’re not here to kill me now.”

Karkat had gone on to ask if he lost his eye when he defected, but Dayhve was quick to tell him no. He only defected a week ago, the loss of his eye happened not long after he returned empty handed. He said there was a fight with some rebels and that’s how it happened, but it was nothing to worry about.

After the whole attempted assassination and defection conversation, they vowed to not tell anyone else around here that’s what had happened. If they were to tell the others he was an assassin, well… He wouldn’t necessarily be trusted by many others. The only news that came out was that he defected, only because he was a seadweller so of course he defected! Seadwellers weren’t known for being in the rebellion, so it was the only conclusion anyone came to.

Months passed, things were normal, Dayhve became known as “The Apostate.” It was stupid, in Karkat’s opinion, but Dayhve thought it was “the coolest shit he’s ever heard,” and it was “much cooler than The Signless.” Karkat had called him stupid and held a grudge about that for a whole day, but Dayhve just thought it was funny how the rebel leader could act like such a child sometimes.

Eventually, as fate had it, Dayhve became Karkat’s guard. He was never really asked, it just sort of happened. Neither of them complained about it, they never even mentioned it really. It was only natural. Dave was gifted with a sword, he could take out a dozen people in a minute, if it even took that long. Karkat had to admit, he admired Dayhve’s skill. Now, Karkat could fight, he wasn’t a weakling, but Dayhve… He was a different story.

He was incredibly strong and skilled, Karkat had never seen anyone swing a sword like him, and he had an army of skilled soldiers. It was almost graceful the way Dayhve moved when he fought, and Karkat decided to take a closer look and began sitting in watching him train. Dayhve didn’t mind, it was a little company. Karkat asked questions, generally while also insulting him. Dayhve explained to him the years of training he went through, mentioning he’s been at this since he was practically a grub. He mentioned his growing up was difficult, but he didn’t delve too much into it. 

“You sure are interested in my life,” Dayhve had teased, then he paused briefly when Karkat stayed silent, “Come here.”

“W-what?” Karkat blinked, stammering in surprise.

“Come here, I’ll show you a few moves,” Dave said, a smile on his face as he gestured for Karkat to get up and come over.

Karkat did, though hesitantly. He really didn’t see the point in this. He knew how to fight with scythes, he didn’t need to know how to use a sword. But nonetheless, Dayhve was already grabbing ahold of his wrist and pulling him towards him.

“Here, hold it like this,” Dayhve said, putting the sword in Karkat’s hands, showing him how to hold the weapon properly, “No, like this.”

Dayhve’s hands were on Karkat’s and the rebel leader’s face flushed at the contact. Dayhve’s hands were cold on his, but he didn’t move away. He just cleared his throat awkwardly to try and clear the tension, but Dayhve seemed to have already noticed his nervousness. He smiled mischievously, taking it one step further. 

“Okay, that’s it. Now…” He stepped behind Karkat, wrapping his arms around him and placing his hands over the shorter man’s, guiding his movements.

“W-what are you doing?” Karkat stammered, trying to keep the burn on his face controlled.

Dayhve smirked, “Showing you some moves. Didn’t you hear me the first time?”

Karkat swallowed nervously, but he nodded, “Uh… right. Yeah, go ahead.”

Dayhve resisted the chuckle that was begging to be released, instead moving Karkat’s arms gently and slowly, showing him the proper way to swing a sword. Karkat obviously wasn’t very comfortable holding a weapon like this, he was skilled in dual wielding, a longsword such as this one was a little different from what he was used to. He didn’t say anything though. He may have been uncomfortable holding a sword, but he wasn’t uncomfortable in his place right now.

This went on for several minutes, and Dayhve’s voice got lower and quieter as they “trained.” He was speaking into his ear now, murmuring his sword techniques. Karkat felt a shiver run down his spine, Dayhve’s voice oddly soothing. The moment was nice, but nothing lasted forever. Footsteps running down the hall broke them apart, and just in time before the rebel caught them both.

“Sir Vantas, sir! There’s a commotion outside!” The younger rebel replied; a new kid, “Doesn’t appear to be enemies, but a few of ours are getting into it!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Karkat snapped, rolling his eyes and marching towards the exit, fists clenched, “How many times do I have to put these idiots in line?!”

Dayhve watched as the rebel leader followed the kid out of the room, not even casting a glance back at him. It was fine though, Dayhve smiled anyway and went back to formation. He was certain it wouldn’t be the last time they were in such a situation together.

And he was right, it happened again and again. It started as swordsman training, and eventually Karkat even showed Dayhve a few of his regular moves with his scythes. Dayhve wasn’t very good at using them, and it caused Karkat to laugh like an idiot when Dayhve somehow tripped over himself because his movements were too forceful. Dayhve had never heard Karkat laugh so genuinely before, it was a nice sound, one of the nicest sounds he’s ever heard. He wanted to hear it over and over, so he started cracking his dumb jokes more often. Surprisingly, Karkat found them funny. Stupid, but funny.

And things just progressed that way.

It wasn’t until one night after an intense fight that things began to get serious between them. It was a small fight, just a little intrusion. It was only about a dozen guys, but Karkat figured he could manage by himself and went out of his way to go out there without telling Dayhve. He had done well, taking out most of them with the help of some other rebel soldiers, but he had gotten wounded. It wasn’t that bad, he was pushed out of the way before he could get impaled completely, but Dayhve was still mad when he came in, shirt torn and holding a hand to his bloodied stomach. He was barking out orders, looking mostly unfazed by what had happened. Dayhve waited for him, and when he walked by in the mostly empty walkway, he was grabbed and pulled into a room. He yelped, but soon saw it was just the seadweller idiot, so his face relaxed and he glared instead.

“Jegus, what the fuck are you—”

“Are you okay?” Dayhve asked, looking over Karkat, concern in his violet eyes.

Karkat blinked, unsure of just what was going on right now, “Wha—”

“You’re bleeding,” Dayhve cut him off again.

Karkat looked down at his wound, then he slumped his shoulders and shrugged, “It’s just a little blood. It barely even hurts.”

Davyhe clenched his fists, gritting his teeth to control his anger, “Why didn’t you tell me there were intruders?”

Karkat rolled his eyes, “Are you mad because I fucked up your pride or—”

“Shut up, that’s not it,” Dayhve snapped.

Karkat flinched, not expecting Dayhve to get such a harsh tone with him. Karkat softened his features, trying to figure out what his problem was, “Dayhve, are you—”

“You could’ve been killed,” Dayhve cut him off for at least the fourth time, “I wasn’t there to protect you. You could’ve been killed!”

Karkat’s gaze hardened again. Are you fucking kidding me right now? “Are you serious? I can fucking handle myself! Don’t treat me like a—”

“That’s not the point, Karkat!” Dayhve snapped, “You could’ve died! My job is to protect you! If I can’t do that then what’s the fucking point of all of this?!”

Karkat didn’t understand, “Dayhve, what are you talking about?”

“This rebellion, it needs you,” Dayhve said, lowering his voice which somehow made him sound angrier, “The people in this rebellion need you, they all need you, I—” He swallowed, voice finally softening as he spoke very quietly, avoiding Karkat’s burning red eyes, “I need you.”

Karkat’s breath hitched in his throat; he really didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know exactly how things went the way they did that night, he was just glad they did. He remembers Dayhve cradling his face gently, fingers tracing his skin. He remembers how soft and passionate his lips were against his own. He remembers Dayhve taking him to his quarters and patching him up, and afterwards they found a bed and… Neither of them knew how wonderful it felt to find the person you love most, but they did now.

It had been months since that night, and they were closer than ever. Together, no one could stop them. They took down their opponents like they were bugs being squashed beneath their boots; they were invincible. Or, at least they thought so.   
Karkat gave these big inspirational speeches sometimes, at least once every month. He gave them more frequently than that, but he tried to rally most of his troops in a big way at least once a month. He wanted them to feel motivated, to feel confident in their abilities and what they were doing here, and it worked every time. For the guy to claim he was a shitty leader, he sure knew what the hell he was doing. So, the time came again. He was preparing for his speech, silently going over some key points he wanted to address; Dayhve just stood back and watched. 

He’s got such a cute thinking face.

Karkat noticed he was being stared at, and he looked up to look at the other man in the room. He narrowed his eyes and glared when he saw that stupid smirk on his face, “What the hell are you so giddy about?”

Dayhve shook his head, leaning back against the wall in a cool way, “Nothing,” Karkat didn’t halt his glare, so Dayhve chuckled and shrugged, “What? Is it a crime to look at my matesprit all lovey dovey like?”

Karkat felt his face burn a tad, so he turned away and snapped, “You’re throwing me off, you perv!”

Dayhve chuckled again, staying leaned back as he watched Karkat try to get “in the zone.” Karkat didn’t call it that, Dayhve did. Dayhve smiled softly watching him, he always thought it was adorable the way he hyped himself up for a speech or sermon or whatever it is he liked to call these. He mumbled to himself, and not the way Dayhve mumbled to himself. When Dayhve did it, he was louder and he paced and he had full run on sentences about nonsense. Karkat’s rambling was a little different, he was quieter and more organized. Sometimes, when he was in deep thought, he chewed on the end of his thumb.

God, he’s so cute.

“Sir Vantas,” Another rebel poked his head into the room, looking across the room at the rebel leader, only casting a brief glance at his bodyguard, “The sermon starts in five minutes.”

Karkat nodded in acknowledgment, “Be there in a second.”

The other rebel left, and when he did Dayhve turned and looked out onto the makeshift stage some others had made. There was quite a crowd of people out there, a reminder of how big this rebellion was growing. A show of how well Karkat’s message was getting across and drawing these people together. It was a wonderful thing to see, it made the seadweller smile a little wider.

“You sure are getting quite popular,” Dayhve said, smirking sort of smugly in his matesprit’s direction, “Quite the crowd out there. Sure you can handle it, Sir Vantas?”

Karkat gave him an obvious glare and snarl, “Don’t call me that.”

Dayhve chuckled, kicking off the wall and approaching the smaller troll, “I’m just messing around.”

“Yeah, well your messing around is an annoyance,” Karkat snapped, though Dayhve could tell he didn’t mean to be so harsh. He was nervous, always was before he talked to a load of people like this.

Dayhve reached out, grabbing Karkat’s hand in his and squeezing gently, “It’ll be okay. You’ve done this a hundred times before. Just breathe. You can do this, okay?”

Karkat closed his eyes and did as Dayhve said, taking a deep breath and nodding; he opened his eyes again and caught the other troll's eye, the troll who had a deep scar over his right eye, blind in it, “Okay. Let’s go.”

Dayhve smiled proudly, releasing Karkat’s hand and moving so he could walk past him; he followed after him, a sort of lightness in his step as he walked up onto the stage behind the rebel leader. There was a crowd of faces eagerly awaiting to hear from their leader, bright eyes full of hope as they watched him step up onto the stage. Dayhve stood back and watched as Karkat took center stage, preparing to preach to his army and followers. 

His words were kind and inspirational, though that roughness still lied underneath. He was strict for his soldiers and kind for the people seeking refuge. Dayhve stood back and proudly watched; sometimes he was still surprised by how good he was at this whole thing. For such an awkward guy who complained of being a “shitty leader” he sure was pretty damn good at this.

There were people in the crowd with eyes full of awe and joy, most eyes were filled with hope for the future. Their future. It was quite the sight to see, and Dayhve watched Karkat with pride, happy to see him doing the things he does. He sure was a special guy, he was just what this cruel and fucked up world needed. 

In a twisted and fucked up way, Dayhve is glad he was sent on that assassination mission. He thought he’d be killing this so-called threatening rebel leader, but instead he found this dorky, bumbling, and grumpy yet softhearted troll. It was almost laughable how skewed his vision had been in the past, though, he was raised to think that way. He found his way out though.

He was one of the lucky ones.

Karkat went on for a while, his confidence building with every word he spoke and eventually he was moving his hands around in these wild gestures as he preached to the people. Dayhve smirked watching him, then he decided to scan the crowd for the fiftieth time. Duty of being a bodyguard, always look around at your surroundings. Most of these sermons were peaceful and uneventful, and when Karkat was finished he’d walk off stage and everyone would go back to their normal daily routine. But sometimes something else happened.

Today was sometimes.

There was a strange man in the crowd in a cloak, a hood covering his head. Dayhve had been keeping an eye on him for the whole sermon, but he’d just been standing completely still for the longest time, so he just let him be for a while. But now, he was shuffling around, hands moving under his cloak. Dayhve narrowed his eyes, stepping forward discreetly to investigate further, trying to see what exactly this guy was up to. His hand moved to the hilt of his sword the more he looked, and the man in the crowd suddenly moved drastically. 

It took Dayhve and everyone else off guard when a shot rang through the air. Dayhve turned to look at Karkat, calling out his name as a bullet whizzed right over his shoulder, narrowing avoiding his neck. Karkat’s eyes went wide in surprise, and Dayhve quickly ran forward, yelling Karkat’s name again.

“Karkat! Get down!” Just as the rebel leader turned to look at him, he was tackled to the ground.

His back hit the ground with a loud thud and the wind was knocked from his lungs, but he barely coughed before he opened up his eyes and caught sight of Dayhve’s face hovering just an inch above his, “Dayhve, what’s—”

“There’s a man in the crowd. He’s got a gun. He’s trying to kill you. Stay low and keep close,” Dayhve explained quickly, and Karkat just nodded in response.

Dayhve got up off of him, surveying the area quickly before he helped Karkat up and kept him behind him, shielding him with his body. He lead him towards the steps, taking him down off the stage. Once they were on the ground again and out of view from the crowd, Dayhve peered up over the stage and looked around the crowd. People were panicking, screaming and soldiers searching for the culprit of the attempted crime. Dayhve was the only one who saw his face, he knew what he looked like. He’d go out there, he’d find him.

He turned back to Karkat, placing his hands on his arms and catching his eyes, “Stay here, alright? Right here is the safest place for you right now. I’m going to go out there and look for that guy, but I don’t need you on my tail distracting me, you got it? Don’t be an idiot.”

He was being scolded for something he didn’t even do yet. He scowled, “Don’t treat me like some kind of wiggler, I’m not stupid.”

“Sometimes that can be debated,” Dayhve joked, but he didn’t smile. He was too distracted by the current dangerous situation, “I’ll be right back. Stay. Here.”

He poked a finger into Karkat’s chest harshly, and the shorter man grumbled and averted his eyes, “Fine.”

“Good,” Dayhve said, hand on the hilt of his sword again, “I’ll be back.”

“Alright,” Karkat snapped, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes trained anywhere but on Dayhve, “Try not to get yourself killed, dumbass.”

Dayhve stopped before he dashed out, then he smiled cockily, “Wouldn’t dream of it, babe.”

Karkat rolled his eyes as Dayhve dashed out of his general vicinity, and before he knew it, he was out of sight and blending into the crowd, searching for the attempted assassin. Karkat stood there for a while, listening to the people scream and yell, the commotion nerve-wracking. Standing here was doing nobody any good. He was the rebel leader, he needed to get out there and help, but… Dayhve told him to stay where he was. Someone just tried to assassinate him, it was obviously incredibly stupid for him to go out there right now.

But it was also incredibly stupid of him to stay in here and do nothing to help.

People could potentially be hurt or even killed, there was a violent person out there. He couldn’t stand around and do nothing. Dayhve’s orders be damned, he had to help in some way. Besides, he was a perfectly capable fighter, he knew how to protect himself.

So, he retrieved his scythes, arming himself before he stepped around to peer out into the crowd. It was crowded, hard to see anything that was going on. He saw some of his soldiers out there, looking for the man who’d tried to kill him. He didn’t see Dayhve, but he was somewhere out there. Another gunshot sounded, and someone screamed. This guy better not be taking random shots at refuges, or else there’d be hell to pay. Karkat ground his teeth, narrowing his eyes as he tried spotting anyone suspicious in the crowd. He noticed a few of his soldiers were making their way in one particular direction, so his eyes followed where they were headed and believe it or not, the man in a grey cloak was standing out, seeming to try and reload a jammed weapon.

Karkat took a deep breath, scowled, and stepped out of hiding and into the crowd.

People were panicking, yelling, the guy with the gun was still trying to unjam it. He was starting to look panicked, looking around as he was approached by rebels. Karkat marched forward with a purpose, getting tired of people like this trying to ruin the good things they were doing here. He gripped his scythes firmly, grinding his sharp teeth as he marched towards his attempted assassin.

He didn’t get there in time though, somebody beat him to it. Dayhve suddenly broke through the crowd, sword gripped tightly in his hands as he glared at the troll fucking around with his rifle. Dayhve raised his sword, attempting to swing it and take off this guy’s head, but the assassin noticed Dayhve before he could do that and weaved out of his way, Dayhve missing his target completely.

“You bastard!” Dayhve yelled, anger marking his features.

The assassin was having no luck with his gun, so he dropped the damned thing and instead pulled out a knife for this close combat. He was pretty skilled, weaving around Dayhve’s attempted blows with ease. He was obviously trained for this kind of work, and apparently, he’d been training for this for at least a few sweeps. It didn’t help that Dayhve was running on anger; he was pissed off. Karkat was almost killed, that bullet barely missed his neck. Dayhve wasn’t having it.

Karkat watched, eyes stuck on the fight. Dayhve swung his sword and the other guy weaved. He was trying to hit Dayhve too, but he wasn’t having much luck either. Eventually though, he did slice him. The blade of his knife cut into Dayhve’s jaw, violet blood spilling down his neck. The anger that fueled him though made Dayhve bite back. With a particularly hard swing, Dayhve sliced through the assassin’s leg, tearing his lower leg away from the rest of his body. The assassin cried out in pain, violet blood spilling everywhere. 

He fell to the ground, and when he did that Karkat finally started moving again, marching towards the scene. Dayhve raised his sword, planning on sending it through the other violet blood’s chest, but it appeared the assassin wasn’t finished yet. Before Dayhve could make his final move, the other seadweller sliced into Dayhve’s leg with his knife, making the other man stumble. While Dayhve recovered from his stagger rather quickly, the other man was somehow faster. He somehow got to his knee, sheer will powering him through the pain, and he threw his arms forwards, fingers from both hands wrapped tightly around the handle of his knife. It tore through flesh, blood spilling everywhere. He caught him in the gut, and Dayhve stumbled back.

The legless man peered up at Dayhve, smiling maniacally. Dayhve stumbled some more, but his grip on his sword was firm. He just had to lift and slice, it was that easy. All he had to do was—

A new and familiar weapon hooked around the assassin’s neck, keeping him in place; if he moved, he’d be dead. Dayhve was breathing heavily, looking down and seeing Karkat standing behind the kneeling assassin, a look of anger on his face as he threatened to slice his throat. Dayhve watched, but only for a brief moment. He caught his breath, then he hardened his gaze and shook his head, “I got this.”

Karkat furrowed his brow, then he spoke quietly, “You sure?”

Dayhve nodded, “Yeah.”

He was still a little out of breath and in pain, but he was still willing to lift his sword and fight. Karkat waited for Dayhve to be in the right position before he quickly released the assassin and stepped back, looking away as Dayhve swung his sword to the left and took off the man’s head. Karkat winced when he saw it roll a few times, then he looked back to Dayhve when the headless body hit the ground with a thud.

Dayhve was breathing heavily as he stared at the body on the ground, and Karkat took a step forward when he saw the blood leaking from the wound in his stomach, “Dayhve, are you—”

“I thought I told you to stay put?” Dayhve snapped, eyes slightly narrowed at the smaller troll.

Karkat was silent for a brief moment, then he narrowed his eyes too, “Well, I wasn’t just going to stand there and do nothing! If I’m able to help then I’m going to help!”

“I could’ve handled it! My job is to protect you and I can’t do that if you’re getting yourself into trouble!” Dayhve said, glaring.

“For the last Gog damn time: I can handle myself!” Karkat yelled.

“If that’s so true then why the fuck do you have a bodyguard?!” Dayhve shot back.

Karkat was about to retort again, but Dayhve suddenly groaned in pain and stumbled forward. Karkat’s eyes widened and he dropped his scythes, rushing forward to catch the other man, “Dayhve!”

Dayhve fell against him, head on his shoulder as he groaned. He had dropped his sword next to him, arms limp as his sides. Karkat tried looking down, pulling away a tad so he could take a look at Dayhve’s wound. Violet blood was pooling around his torn shirt, but he couldn’t really tell how bad it was at this angle. 

“Come on, let’s go somewhere else. I need to have a look at that,” Karkat said, grabbing Dayhve’s arm and slinging it over his shoulder; just then some of the others who were after the assassin showed up, spotting the headless body on the ground; Karkat shouted out some orders, “Clean this up and make sure everyone is okay! I’m taking him somewhere safe to check his wounds!”

“Yes sir!” Was the chorus of other rebels, then they got to what they were told to do.

“Can you walk okay?” Karkat asked, voice lower now as they slowly started stepping away from the scene.

Dayhve nodded, holding onto Karkat as securely as he could, “Yeah. I got stabbed in the gut, my legs work fine.”

Karkat rolled his eyes, “Smart ass.”

Dayhve wanted to chuckle at that, but all he could do was wince and keep a hand over stab wound in his abdomen. He could feel his cold blood seeping through his fingers, but it was too dark to tell how much of it there was. He was feeling only a little lightheaded, but that was probably just a product of the pain. At least, he hoped that was all it was. 

The trek back to a secluded area felt like it lasted forever. Of course, their pace was slow because Dayhve had to pace himself, but eventually they did get somewhere safe. Karkat helped Dayhve take a seat, making sure to be gentle with him so he didn’t disturb his injury any further. Dayhve winced a little, sucking in a sharp breath between his teeth; Karkat apologized quietly.

“Are you alright?” Karkat asked, looking over Dayhve with worry very present on his face.

Dayhve lifted his eye, looking at the other’s face and seeing the concern painted there. So, he nodded and tried to reassure him, “I’m fine. It’s not that deep, it just hurts like a bitch,” Dayhve chuckled lightheartedly then, “He wasn’t a very good shot.”

Karkat didn’t seem to find the humor in that, so Dayhve moved on. He looked down at his injury, seeing violet blood seep through his fingers, but it looked like the flow had slowed a little. He was a seadweller, he was able to take a bit of damage before it even affected him. This was nothing. At least, to him it wasn’t. Karkat on the other hand, looked like a nervous wreck right now, but when wasn’t he?

“I’ll uh… I’ll get some bandages and… yeah, I’ll be right back,” He turned to go and gather some supplies, casting one look back at Dayhve, “Stay right there.”

“Where am I gunna go?” Dayhve joked, only for Karkat to roll his eyes before he left the room briefly.

Dayhve sat by himself for a minute or two, keeping pressure to the wound and taking some deep breaths, hoping the pain would reside soon. The guy hadn’t stabbed him very well, the wound wasn’t deep, but it sure did hurt like a bitch. At least the bleeding had slowed, the violet blood that had already seeped out already beginning to dry to his skin. Hopefully Karkat got back soon so he could clean this up, it looked gross.

He heard footsteps outside the room about two minutes later, and soon enough Karkat was stepping back inside. Dayhve went to sit up a little to greet him, only to wince and sag back against the wall. Karkat glanced over him, concerned, then he said, “Don’t move around too much, I can’t imagine that’s good for your injury.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Dayhve said, wincing and trying to get comfortable as Karkat began stepping over, some medical supplies in his hands.

He dropped them onto a nearby table before he stopped in front of Dayhve and gestured his hands for Dayhve to remove his, “Let me see.”

Dayhve nodded, moving his hand keeping the bleeding regulated. Karkat winced seeing the gash, violet blood drying to grey skin. Dayhve assured him it looked worse than it was; he’d told Karkat before that seadwellers were hard to kill. Still didn’t make him any less worried. Karkat told him to remove his shirt and then he turned to grab something, and Dayhve barely paid attention. Instead, he tried to make conversation as he did what he was told.

Granted, it wasn’t very good conversation.

“Why’d you come running out there?” Dayhve asked, voice strained with pain as Karkat shuffled around for something.

Karkat didn’t look at him when he replied, “I thought I could be of help.”

Dayhve rolled his eyes, “The guy was trying to kill you, you were his target. The last thing you should’ve done was run out there and try to get yourself killed.”

“I wasn’t trying to get myself killed,” Karkat replied, sounding a little annoyed, which wasn’t uncommon.

“Sure looked like it,” Dayhve grumbled, and that’s when Karkat spun around to glare at him.

“I’m not incapable of handling myself, Dayhve!” Karkat snapped, glaring harshly at the wounded troll, “Contrary to popular belief, I actually know how to fight and don’t need your protection all hours of the day!”

That literally makes no sense, “Karkat, do you not know what a bodyguard’s job is or are you really that daft?”

“Shut the fuck up, you idiot! I know what your job is and I encourage you to do it!” Karkat yelled, throwing his arms around as he did so, “But you treat me like I’m fragile and can’t ever handle myself! I’m the leader of an army of rebels, for Gog’s sake! I know what the hell I’m doing!”

Dayhve frowned, giving the other man a sincere look, “You think I don’t know that? I know you can handle yourself in a fight, but Gog damn, could you get yourself into less trouble sometime? It’s like you go around looking for a fight half the time!”

“You think I asked for what happened earlier?!” Karkat asked incredulously.

“No, of course not! I’m talking about all the other times!” Dayhve snapped right back, “Not gunna lie, Kar! You don’t necessarily watch your mouth at any given time! Ever!”

“You sure are a piece of shit sometimes, you know that?” Karkat spat.

“This is exactly what I mean!” Davhve replied, gesturing wildly to the other man only to pull at the skin around his injury, “Ow! Fuck!”

“Stop moving around,” Karkat said, tone softer now with concern but his anger was still hidden under there, “Don’t hurt yourself more than you already are.”

Dayhve was silent after that, avoiding looking at Karkat as the other man grabbed what was needed and stepped forward. Both of them were quiet for a few moments, Dayhve didn’t even flinch or say anything when Karkat grabbed his shoulder to move him towards him so he could see what he was doing better. The next time something was spoken was when Dayhve sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth and spoke when the pain registered in his think pan.

“Gog dammit, that fucking hurts!” He shouted as Karkat tried cleaning him up.

“Well no shit! You got stabbed, you fucking moron!” Karkat shouted back.

Again, Dayhve went silent. He winced and flinched away when Karkat prodded at the stab wound, but Karkat managed to keep him still and in place pretty well. Dayhve dug his fingers into the seat of the chair he was sitting on, trying to keep himself steady and let Karkat finish what he was doing. He hadn’t been stabbed before, this hurt a lot more than he imagined it would. At least the bleeding had mostly stopped, which Karkat seemed impressed by. Seadwellers really were impressive.

Karkat threw the bloody towel down, looking around and grabbing sutures now, “I’m going to have to stitch it up. Hope you’re not a crybaby.”

Dayhve grimaced, “Of course I’m not. Gotta put up with your ass, don’t I?”

Karkat rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything to that, he just got to work. Again, Dayhve flinched and winced, but getting the stitches didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the cleaning and disinfecting had. It appears that whatever Karkat had done when cleaning his wound had numbed him a little bit, which he greatly appreciated. They were silent the entire time Karkat stitched the wound and the silence was starting to grate on both their nerves just a little. It was nearly insufferable.

But still, nobody spoke until the bandages were brought out. Dayhve watched as Karkat placed the needle and remaining thread down, cleaning his hands that were stained slightly with violet blood; Dayhve grimaced at the sight. He relaxed though now, realizing the painful part was over and he would be fine, all that had to be done now was applying bandages.

But first, he had something he needed to say.

When Karkat came back towards him, bandages at the ready, Dayhve lifted his hands and grabbed Karkat’s, stopping him, “Wait.”

Karkat furrowed his eyebrows curiously, voice annoyed when he spoke, “What? I need to bandage this, it’s still irritated and—”

“I know, and you can do that, but in a minute,” Dayhve reassured him, “First, I need to say something.”

Karkat was a little confused, but he nodded and let Dayhve go on, “Alright, fine. But make it quick.”

“Yeah, alright,” Dayhve said, keeping his hands on Karkat’s and avoiding his eyes, “Listen, about what we were talking about before we were forced to sit through ten minutes of awkward silence… You mentioned I sort of… act like you can’t handle yourself. I don’t mean to come off that way, alright? I know I’m overprotective and all that shit, but… When I was against you, back when I was an assassin, I was trained to kill people, so I guess being in a position to protect instead of kill is different for me and… I like it. And you’re important to me so yeah, I get overprotective but I don’t mean to. It’s not you being unable to protect yourself, because I know that you can, it’s me. I don’t allow you to handle yourself sometimes and I’m sorry for that.”

Dayhve caught his eyes there at the end when he apologized, and Karkat really didn’t know what to say to that. Any of it. Dayhve wasn’t really open emotionally, hasn’t been since he’s known him, at least not often, so this was surprising. But… it was nice. 

Dayhve added at the end, “But please don’t rush into battle when an actual assassin tries to take your life. Leave that shit to me, alright?”

He chuckled a bit, but Karkat frowned. He knew what Dayhve meant, he knew this whole protection thing was new to him, he knew this whole deal with being in a relationship was new to him. It probably didn’t come to him easily. Karkat needed to try and understand that better. 

He cleared his throat and looked down at Dayhve’s hands in his, focusing on his trembling fingers; he moved his fingers so they were squeezing Dayhve’s gently, “I’m… sorry too. I know I get myself into trouble more than I need to, but most of those times it’s just me and a comrade, they’re not going to hurt me. You don’t have to as protective as you are, you know?”

Dayhve nodded, “Yeah, I know. I’ll try to ease up.”

Karkat nodded, looking up then to meet Dayhve’s eyes then, “I do appreciate what you do for me though. I mean that.”

Dayhve smiled then, looking absolutely exhausted, “I appreciate what you do for me, too.”

Karkat frowned at that, eyebrows knitting together in confusion, “I don’t do anything. I just stand there and attract assassins.”

Dayhve smiled a little wider at that, “That’s not such a bad thing sometimes, is it? That’s how you got me, after all.”

Karkat’s mouth twitched and he couldn’t help the smirk lifting up his lips when Dayhve said that, “You’re an idiot.”

Dayhve had a stupid goofy grin on his face, but it was very contagious, “I love you, too.”

Karkat rolled his eyes, “Idiot.”

Then he leaned forward and kissed Dayhve, which the other man seemed to be eagerly awaiting. He grunted against the other troll’s mouth, removing a hand from Karkat’s and instead putting it on his hip, pulling him closer so he was standing between his legs. Karkat grunted in surprise and put a hand on Dayhve’s chest, pushing away slightly and breaking the kiss, “Not here, you idiot. You’re wounded and we’re out in the open.”

Dayhve shrugged, “That’s kind of hot if you ask me.”

Karkat rolled his eyes for what felt like the fiftieth time that day, ignoring what Dayhve had to say as usual, “Let me go so I can wrap this.”

That didn’t take the smile off of Dayhve’s face, even when he did as Karkat said, “Alright, but don’t think you can get away from me that easily.”

Karkat smirked, able to press a kiss to Dayhve’s forehead before he stepped back to give himself some more room before he began bandaging him, both of them smiling like idiots the entire time.

“Dumbass.”


End file.
